More than a stray
by Spawn-67
Summary: A boy by the name of Stephan Alberny, AKA Spawn finds his way through the unforgiving world. A past that haunts him, a terrorist organization his only family, what will happen when a energetic blonde, a strict but caring heiress, a mysterious girl in black, and a clumsy red riding hood take him in? Will he stick to his comrades of the White Fang, or become more than a stray?
1. Chapter 1: A Test Of Possibilities

Authors notes: Hello everyone and welcome to my first fanfic! *Slow clap.* Oh, I know I know! Contain your excitement. I've always written fanfics, but I've never shared them with people and this is my first attempt at sharing my work. So please, leave comments and feedback, never be afraid to criticize! :D Enjoy c:

- Chapter 1: A Test Of Possibilities -

The suns rays shine through the cracks in the blinds, hitting my face, and more annoyingly my closed eyes. With a groan of protest I roll over, covering my face with my arms and blankets, blocking out the sun and the very day that inevitably awaits me. After a few peaceful minutes, a voice calls my name. "Spawn! Wake up man!" Before I can reply there are already hands on my shoulders, shaking me awake.

"Derek, can you please just let me sleep a little longer?!" I can hear Derek sigh, sitting on the bed across from mine.

"No can do champ, today is the day we raid the Schnee dust companies train. Those bastards will have no idea what hit them! We'll be quiet, like ninjas in the night!"

I do my best to block out Dereks daydreams, closing my eyes and trying to close my ears. To bad that isn't a thing, and soon, when I've proven to myself that he isn't stopping anytime soon, I take matters into my own hands. "DEREK! Please. Shut. Up."

"Whatever man, just get up!" I can feel the pillow strike my arm covered face, grunting in response as Derek pelts me with pillows.

"Fine! Fine! I'm getting up, sheesh." I sigh and sit up on my bed, dangling my legs over the cot and yawning loudly. "What time is it anyways?"

Derek frowns and turns his wrist upside down, checking his watch. "It's like, almost noon. I let you sleep as late as possible, but Treace is already pissed at you for missing breakfast, you need to come to lunch."

I mean, I'm not gay or anything, not that there's anything wrong with being gay or whatever, but Derek sometimes makes me jealous with his looks. He's definitely a "Lady killer." but not in the psychopathic sense. He's tall, and muscular. Shaggy blond hair with circular lion ears atop his head, blue eyes, the works. His skin tone is even ideal, not to dark but certainly not pasty. I have no idea why he's my friend, being the most popular guy in our squad, and probably the entire camp.

With a groan of protest and an exhale of breath, I nod and stand, stretching my relaxed muscles with another groan, this time of pleasure. "Geez man, keep it PG." Derek jokes. I can't help but laugh at this and toss my pillow at him.

"Alright, alright. I'll try. Just let me shower and get ready and I'll meet you in the mess hall." Derek gazes at me curiously, standing up in front of me.

"And how do I know that you're not just going to go back to sleep?" Smart boy.

"Derek, I'm hungry, okay? I'm coming. I'll only be a few minutes." He nods his head reluctantly as we share goodbyes.

As soon as Derek's gone I turn to the small nightstand near my bed, fetching my uniform and a towel. I walk down the row of beds, each wall lined with plain wooden cots. None of the beds are full, and each one is neatly made. I exit my barrack and walk down the gravel path to the shower area, my bare feet unbothered. I stop in front of a semi-large building with one entrance, and one exit. The only door reads; "Showers." I push the door open and walk into the small hallway containing two more doors, one labeled for males, the other female. I step into the males shower room and walk down the aisle of stalls, going to the far back and stepping into the last stall.

I shut the door behind me and hang the towel on the small metal hook behind the door. I take off my plain grey T-shirt and black sweat pants, along with my boxers, setting them on the small bench across from the shower. I step into the small concrete tub that contains the water, preventing a mess of water from flowing across the stall. I crank the handle, sighing as the steaming hot water washes over my body. I stand for a few minutes, practically falling back asleep, but willing myself to clean off.

After ten minutes or so I step out of the stall, dressed in my uniform; Black pants and a black long sleeved hoodie. My wrists are strapped with silver metallic wrists guards, stopping midway up my forearm. Across my chest is a white metal vest of body armor, the red white-fang emblem plastered across the back of the armor. My feet equipped with grey combat boots.

I walk over to a large mirror that spans the length of a wall, gazing at myself. I find my sharp blue eyes staring back, a large diagonal scar across my left eye. My black shaggy hair in a mess as it drips, still wet from my recent shower. I use my towel and rub my hair roughly. My hair is sort of long for a guy, ending around my shoulders in straight strands. My bangs are pretty long to, and swish to one side out of my face. I take extra care and time around my black wolf ears, attempting to get as dry as possible. My eyes linger on my scar, re-living the moment I got it, sending a chill up my spine. I shake the thoughts from my head and go over my uniform, making sure everything is in place and proper. The uniform is kinda small, being one of the smaller faunus. I'm nowhere near the size of Derek, standing maybe 5'8 if I'm lucky, and I'm not super buff either. With a sigh of self consciousness I begin brushing my teeth with the provided toiletries at the sink in front of the mirror. Once I'm finished brushing my teeth and drying/messing up my hair, I turn and head for the exit, satisfied.

I walk out of the shower area, trudging down the gravel pathway back to my barracks. I throw my dirty clothes and used towel into the large laundry basket for our barrack and make my way to the mess hall.

As soon as I step into the noisy mess hall full of my comrades, I can immediately spot Dereks vibrant yellow hair sticking above the rest of the heads. "God, He's tall." I comment to myself. I walk over to our table, sitting next to Derek. He has two trays of food, and slides one to me.

"You know how quickly the food goes around here, so I got you a tray." I nod my thanks and dig into my pasta, trying to tune out the noise around me.

After I've finished my pasta, I take a moment to look around at our table. My entire squad is here, except our leader Treace. I turn to Derek, a puzzled expression across my face. "Shouldn't Treace be here, you know, ripping into me for missing breakfast?"

Derek shakes his head before motioning towards a table behind us. I glance back, noticing our leader at a table full of officers. discussing something, too far away to make out what though. "Nah, she's at the officers table discussing tonight's raid. So you're off the hook for now." We share amused smiles and finish the rest of our meals.

A voice comes over the loudspeaker, requesting our presence after our meals for a short announcement. "After your meals Adam will be making a short announcement, so remain seated and remain quiet for it's duration." Me and Derek share confused glances, wondering what the announcement will be about.

After a few minutes, a man steps out onto the small stage at the back of the mess hall. He is dressed in a black suit top, with a red shirt underneath. He also wears black dress pants and black flats, stylized with red markings. His hair is spiky and a mixture of red and black, a white mask covers the upper half of his face, resembling the rest of the White Fangs masks, but stylized with red markings like the rest of his clothing.

"As you all know tonight we will be raiding the Schnee company train, hauling a shipment of dust crystals." He begins. "The train will be heavily guarded, and we run a huge risk of casualties. Thus, I will be aiding the raid personally. A year ago we attempted this very same raid, coming up short after a certain someone cut the cart loose." He trails off at the last bit of his sentence, reliving the memory before coming back to the present. "No matter, this time I expect a succes. I need a small squad of comrades to assist me, we will be the only force entering and conducting the raid, minimizing the casualty risks."

'That's quite the change of plans, we were going to use practically the whole camp.. this doesn't seem right.. Why would the leader of the White Fang put himself in this much danger?' I can't stop my thoughts from wandering, go over different possibilities as Adam continues.

"I will be hand selecting four of you to accompany me, I will be present during your combat exercises this evening, expect to be pulled aside and further tested if I am interested, that is all. Enjoy the rest of your day." He half salutes with two of his fingers and steps off the stage, escorted by an entourage of guards out of the building. 'Why not just bring his personal guards..?' I wonder. 'None of this makes a lick of sense.' The rest of the room seems unfazed by the information, including Derek who goes back to his conversation about weapons with Stain, another of our squad members.

- Combat Exercises -

With a grunt of effort, I bring Oculus down over my head, sticking the blade into the straw dummies head. With another grunt I rip it out, a shredding noise coming from the fabric as my weapon hangs at my side. I glance across the room, noticing adam eyeing me.

I switch my weapon into his sword mode. Oculus is a switch axe, having a sword and axe mode. The blade is jagged bone, lined with sharp teeth-like-points much like a saw. On the back side of the blade are shiny crimson black scales running across the blades length. As the blade ends nearing it's hilt, a large curved red horn hangs down below the hilt, making a sort of spiked hand guard. The handle is bone aswell, the bottom of the handle being a knee socket, filled with a white tuft of wolf fur.

I look around me at the other members of my squad hacking away at their own targets, smiling as I see derek swinging his mace around like a mad man. I retrain my focus back to my targets, three of them in total. With a yell of power, I swing Oculus in a horizontal line, a light blue aura surrounding me as I do so. Electricity crackles form the blade of Oculus, turning the blade bright orangey red from the heat the electricity creates. Oculus easily cuts through each target, sizzling and crackling as the electricity burns through the fabric of the dummies. The upper halves of each dummy ignite into flames as they topple over onto the floor, burning in silence. I smile as the blue aura around me fades, the blade of Oculus returning to normal as I holster him onto my belt.

A slow clapping is heard from across the room, and everyone including myself turns their attention to the source. Adam stands, clapping his hands and watching me. "Well done, well done. That was quite impressive. So, you're an Aura user?" I nod slowly, staring at him suspiciously. "That's not exactly rare, but It's been a while since I've seen one of our own comrades using it." I shrug, keeping quiet. "The silent type, hmm? Why don't you come with me. I feel like we have a bit to discuss." I look hesitantly over to Derek, and he shrugs. 'Gee, thanks.'

Adam leads me out of the combat building, walking us to another facility close by. "You heard my announcement this afternoon I presume?" I nod. Adam sighs frustratedly, glancing at me as we walk before looking back in front of us. "Then you know why I've pulled you aside. I wish to test your skills further, I've already made the decision to put you on tonights raid squad, but I wish to see more of what you can do."

My eyes widen, not really sure what to say. "M-Me? But I thought I was in trouble, or.. I don't know." Adam laughs and shakes his head. "No, not in trouble. I was quite impressed, having an aura user on our little raid team will be useful indeed." I nod in understanding and follow him silently into the building adjacent the training facility.

Inside the room is mostly empty, with a few overhead lights and a large platform in the middle of the room, stairs leading up either side of the platform. "What's this?" I ask.

Adam smile and motions for me to climb onto the platform. Without anymore questions, I do as he says and step up on the right side, Adam climbing up onto the other side. I can see him draw his weapon, and I answer my own question. "We're gonna have a duel?" Adam nods.

I flinch as Adam unsheathes his shortsword from it's holster that doubles as a shotgun. I take a deep breath and unclip Oculus from my belt. We share nods of understanding, and begin circling one another.

'What's he doing?! He can easily take me out with one hit. Why is he prolonging this..?' Before I can finish the thought, Adam rushes forward in a sprint. His sword is turned backward in his right hand, his shotgun/sheath held at the ready in his left. I switch Oculus into axe form, the blade sliding up and pivoting around to face the over direction, the hand guard taking its place and becoming a blunt edge. I take a defencive stance and block Adams vertical slash, catching his blade with the curved horn. I rip downwards and to the right, forcing adams arm to twists awkwardly or release his weapon. Adam holds on, and flips in the direction I pull, saving his arm.

"Clever," He says, his new angle and position rendering my hold on his weapon useless. He rips his sword free, pivoting on his right foot and bringing his shotgun forward in a horizontal slash. I scoot backwards, dodging the slash. As the barrel of the gun rounds out, it points at my midsection and Adam fires. I immediately flare my aura, the shot bouncing harmlessly away, but taking a lot of energy to deflect. In response, I raise Oculus over my head and bring it down in a vertical cleave, catching Adam off guard and causing him to flare his aura. I hit his shoulder with the blade of my axe, earning me a grunt from Adam as his red aura deflects the blow.

We both jump back, giving each other room to recalculate the situation. I refuse to give him to long, and as soon as I feel confident I yell, Oculus once again sparking back up to life, the blade glowing a strong orange as crackles of electricity flow from the blade. Adam sees my re-engagement and side steps out of the way of my blow, swinging his sword and catching me in the side. I can feel my aura lower as it deflects his blow,and I can't take many more. I yell again, Oculus changing into his sword mode as I slash, forcing adam to block. Perfect. Adam cries in pain as our weapons clash, a strong electrical discharge running down his weapon and into his body. He almost drops his sword, but grips it firmly, activating his own semblance. All of the red trimming on Adams clothing and mask glows brightly, and I can feel my Aura being drained. His sword is absorbing the power of my electricity, strengthening Adam. I realize this all too late as Adam pulls back, raising his sword high in the air and slashing down. I dodge out of the way, but it doesn't matter. A large shockwave of electricity flies towards me, striking me with force that is indescribable. My vision blurs from the pain, and I let out a cry of defiance as I slump to the ground, defeated.

After a few silent moments, a hand grasps mine and helps me to my feet. I recognize it as Adams from his black gloves, and a smile spreads across my face despite the pain. "Looks like I'm out, huh?" Adam chuckles and shakes his head.

"Far from it kid, welcome to the team." I look at him confused, processing the information. "But I lost!" He nods in agreement.

"The test was not about winning or loosing, it was about seeing what potential you had. And you have a lot of it." I nod in understanding, still suspicious of Adam but delighted to be apart of some super elite squad. 'Maybe I'm finally making something of myself...'

-End of chapter 1 -

And that's that guys! Sorry it ended a bit weird, but I needed to stop writing. It was getting WAY too long for an introductory chapter. I hope you all enjoyed :D and expect more soon, maybe even in a few hours, depending on if I want to write more. But the next chapter will most likely be up tomorrow c: Questions, comments, feedback, blah blah blah you know the drill. Thank you all for reading! And good day to you all.

Also, another quick note. Spawns weapon is a "Thunderhush" from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. I've come to realize I can't link to images in my stories, so if you're really curious and want a good image of Oculus just google; "Thunderhush monster hunter 3 ultimate." In google images.

-Spawn


	2. Chapter 2: The Gang's All Here

Authors notes:

Hello, hello. Welcome back everyone to the second chapter. I got more of a response than I anticipated from the first chapter, even a few favourites. And I'd like to just take a moment to thank everyone who favorited the story, it really pushes me to do more :D Alright, alright enough stalling. Let's get on with it, shall we?

- Chapter 2: The Gang's All Here. -

'So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.' ~ Chief Tecumseh

The last words echo through my head, my eyes watering as memories flood into my brain. I can hear a faint sigh to my left, and I can feel a hand grip my shoulder. "Why do you torture yourself with this stuff, champ?"

I quickly wipe my eyes of their moisture, sniffing away everything and sitting up, tossing the flimsy piece of paper to the side. "It's all I have left of him." I mutter.

Derek nods and lets his hand drop. He's sitting on the edge of his cot, his legs over the side. "I know man, it's tough. But you gotta move on. That's all in the past now." I sigh heavily, burying my face in my hands.

"You don't understand, he was like my father. He wasn't my real father, of course. But close enough.." Out of the corner of my eye I can see Derek shrug.

"Do you think he'd want you to be all gloomy because of him? What was it he used to say, hmm? 'If one day this war kills me, don't frown, because I was smiling."

I can't help but chuckle softly, wiping the remnants of my tears away and sitting up straight. "Yeah, it was something like that. That old cow sure did like his violence, huh?"

Me and Derek exchange laughs, but grow silent as memories take hold of us. "I miss him, Derek." He nods in understanding, standing up and offering his hand to me. I take it.

"I know, champ. So do I." I smile up at Derek as he hauls me to my feet. "So, are you excited about tonight?" He asks.

"I don't know, I mean.. I guess. It's cool to be hand picked like this." Derek nods, hauling Destrum, his mace up onto his shoulder. Destrum is a large mace, the brunt edge of which is spiked like a medieval flail, and a perfect sphere about the size of my head. The long handle is pretty plain, decorated with ebony markings. The handle is roughly 3 feet long, and Destrum is huge. I doubt I could even lift it up, let alone swing it around like a feather, like Derek does.

"Yeah, it is isn't it? We are gonna be the talk of the camp. The elite of the elite! Badasses, heros!" I tune Derek out for the second time today as he daydreams aloud.

Derek is saying something about becoming celebrities when a guard opens our barracks door. I can tell that it's already nightfall, and the rest of our squad are all changing into their PJ's while we remain in our uniform. The guard beckons us forward, his mask making his expression unreadable. "It's time, Adam request your presence Stephan, Derek." I flinch, I hate it when people use my real name.

"Could you just call me Spawn, please?" The guard grunts and I can tell he's rolling his eyes.

"Just come with me, whoever you are." I nod, exchanging glances with Derek before the two of us walk out of our Barracks, following the guard who came to fetch us.

"You never did tell me how your one on one went with Adam, Derek." He shrugs his shoulders and keeps pace with me, walking with Destrum still slung over his shoulder.

"Not much to say really. It was pretty quick. We went back and forth and exchanged blows a few times until Adam was satisfied, then he just finished me off. I thought I failed, but he said something about potential and told me I was in." I nod, recalling my experience with our leader.

"Yeah, pretty much the same thing happened with me too. I activated my semblance, then so did he-" I'm cut short by Derek, who's looking at me with a shocked expression.

"You got Adam to use his semblance?! How?!" I shrug, an amused expression crossing my face.

"I used mine." I replied simply. Derek sighs and continues walking, a little faster in order to keep pace with the guard, who was for the most part ignoring us.

"No one has ever forced Adam to use his semblance before, he's usually skilled enough to go without. I'm impressed champ." I smile, beaming. Derek is an excellent fighter, praise from him comes rarely and is not to be taken lightly.

"Thanks." I say genuinely, filled with a new sense of confidence and pride.

"Alright you two, enough blabbing. Time to get serious." The guard opens a large metal door into what looks like an old hangar. The camp the white-fang operates on is a large abandoned air force base used back in the Faunus Rights Revolution. The base is run down and largely out of shape, but it serves it's purpose for our cause.

"Hello you two, how nice of you to join us finally." Adams voice booms in the empty hangar, echoing through the air in an intimidating fashion. "We've been waiting on you."

I nod my apologies and speak on me and Dereks behalf. "I'm sorry, sir. We got sidetracked." Adam waves a hand at us dismissively, turning his attention back to the whiteboard behind him.

"No matter, you're here now and that's all that matters. Sit." The other two faunus of our raid team are sitting impatiently, listening to Adams explanation and tactical plan.

One of them is a cheetah faunus. Her face is triangular like her animal cousin, and her face has a natural sleek look, making her look like a true instinctual killer. Her head sports no ears, but behind her back I can spot a black and orange spotted tail, the end of witch sporting a tuft of black fur. Her overall demeanor is intimidating. She isn't big, she's rather small, but powerful. Her arms are bigger than mine, and while her frame is small I can see from her she is as deadly as an actual cheetah, and probably as fast too. She glares at me and huffs dismissively, looking back at Adam and his game plan.

A bear faunus sits to her right. He's much bigger than me. Probably almost as tall as Derek. Ben is most certainly buffer than Derek though. His bear genes giving him a ridiculous amount of muscle mass. His face is warm and rounded, making him look friendly but yet still somehow intimidating. It's a face that demands respect, but is intent on returning the same. He half salutes to the both of us and looks back at Adam.

Me and Derek stride toward them, two chairs positioned on the left side of our teammates. I sit down on the chair in the middle next to the cheetah faunus, Derek on my left side.

"Right, now that we've all been introduced and familiarized let's get to it."

"Eh, actually." Derek speaks up. "I don't know these two…"

Clem huffs and shakes her head silently, looking forward but directing her words at Derek. "So I'm supposed to trust my life to this jackass who doesn't even take the time to learn his team mates? Ridiculous." Clems voice is exactly what I imagined it. Aggressive and bitter, agitated.

Derek raises his eyebrow and goes to defend himself. "Hey, no one told me to go out and find you guy-" Clem interrupts him, shooting her gaze in his direction and glaring daggers, screaming bloody murder subconsciously.

"You shouldn't have to be told! You are not a child!" She shouts, her arms folded across her chest. "Take some responsibility. As a fellow big-cat faunus I'm embarrassed." Derek growls, his teeth showing as the insult drives home.

"Listen hear you filthy little wench, insult my heritage once more and I'll wring your little neck-" Dereks response is interrupted by an infuriated Adam.

"ENOUGH!" Adam shouts, his finger pointing accusingly at Clem. "I can remove you from this team just as easily as I put you hear! I do not need a team full of bickering idiots!."

"But sir!" Clem goes to defend herself, quickly silenced by Adam.

"Shut it!" Adam takes a deep breathe as Clem sinks in her seat, a satisfied expression washing over Derek's face. "Now, Derek. This is Clem." He motions to the sulking Cheetah faunus, who pays no attention to her introduction. "And this is Ben." Ben half cocks his head at Derek and returns his attention to the white board.

'I didn't know Clem or Ben either, glad Derek spoke up before me..' I smile to myself silently. 'That cheetah chick is scary..'

I'm stirred from my thoughts at the mention of my name. "And this is Derek and Stephan-" I go to correct Adam, but he catches my look and continues. "Who prefers to be called as Spawn." I nod my head to the both of my new teammates, Clem stays silent and Ben barely acknowledges me.

Clem finally speaks up, muttering to herself frustratedly. "I already knew that.." Adam glares at her but stays silent, turning away to face the white board again.

"Now then," He continues. "We will be dropping in here." He points to a large map spread across the white board, held up by magnets. His finger is in a small clearing located in dense forest. "We will be dropped 30 minutes before the trains scheduled arrival, where we will wait for it. The train is heading to a station 5 miles from this area where it will refuel and continue on for another 100 miles to it's destination, Vale. We will board the train as it passes, we will perform the raid as it stops for fuel, giving us the element of surprise. We will have an hour and a half to perform the raid before the police force at Vale become suspicious and come looking for us. The train itself will be heavily guarded, but it will be nothing compared to the Vale police department should we take to long. The Schnee company will have the entire police force awaiting their precious dusts arrival."

As Adam is explaining he's pointing at the different locations along the map. The fuel station, the train station in Vale the train is scheduled to arrive in. As well as any choke points and possible escape routes. "If we somehow get split up take this path, keep out of sight and fire your flares. Each of you will be given a flare gun and two red flares. There will be an airship hovering far above, it's altitude to high to be easily detected. The pilot has orders to pick up anybody who shoots a flare. If all goes successful we will meet back in the same clearing we drop into, and pop a flare, the airship will pick us up and we will return to base. Any questions?"

Clem raises her hand silently, voicing her question before being acknowledged. "What if we don't manage to perform the raid in under an hour and a half?"

Adam straightens up, his arms folded behind his back. "I do not expect us to take longer than an hour, but I will be paying close attention to the time. If we reach the hour and fifteen minute mark I will be calling off the raid, and we will retreat before the authorities arrive."

Clem nods her head, satisfied with Adams answer. "Anymore?" He asks. We all exchange looks questioningly before returning our gazes back to Adam, and shake our heads. "Good, we suit up at once."

- End of Chapter -

Moar notes:

Hello again. So, this chapter is setting up the next, which I anticipate to be a long one full of quite a lot of action and plot development. This chapter was pretty dull, but it was necessary. Putting the raid into this chapter would have made it MUCH too long with what I'm planning, so don't worry! Just be patient, the action will come I promise. I feel like this chapter was a bit short though, and I apologize. What do you guys think? Should I try and make them longer? Or is this pace and length okay? Thanks for reading :D Comment, review, favourite, and PM if you want. Have a great day. ^^

-Spawn


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